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U.S. Navy warship to be christened in Maine for Irish war hero from Long Island who served in Vietnam

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U.S. Navy warship to be christened in Maine for Irish war hero from Long Island who served in Vietnam


Gratitude was in the heart of Colleen Walsh-Irwin as she and her extended family gathered in Bath, Maine, to witness the christening Saturday of the USS Patrick Gallagher, a Navy warship named after her uncle, a decorated U.S. Marine who lived on Long Island.

“It’s such a great honor and tribute to my uncle, who sacrificed so much for the United States, and he wasn’t a U.S. citizen,” Walsh-Irwin, 58, of East Northport, said of her uncle, Lance Cpl. Patrick “Bob” Gallagher. She spoke by phone from Maine a day before the christening of the ship, a DDG 127 guided-missile destroyer.

“It just makes us feel so grateful,” Walsh-Irwin said, referring to the family who traveled from Ireland and Long Island to Maine for the ceremony. “We’re grateful to the Navy and Bath Iron Works for building the ship, and all the people involved in making this dream come true. There were so many behind the scenes for years to make this happen.”

Lance Cpl. Patrick Gallagher was awarded the Navy Cross for his actions during a 1966 enemy grenade attack that nearly killed three of his comrades in a foxhole in Vietnam. He was killed in combat in his last few days of military service in Vietnam. Credit: Marine Corps

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Gallagher was an Irish immigrant — from Ballyhaunis, County Mayo — who had settled in Lynbrook in 1962, joining an older sister, Walsh-Irwin’s mother, Margaret Gallagher Walsh, now deceased. She was the eldest of nine siblings and Gallagher was the second eldest.

Walsh-Irwin said when her mother was a young child, she couldn’t pronounce his name and called him Bob. She said the family called him “Uncle Bob.”

After he enlisted in the Marine Corps and was called to go to Vietnam, he had the choice to go back to his home country. Instead, said his family and others, he chose to serve.

Gallagher, who served in a gunnery unit, was awarded the Navy Cross for his actions during a 1966 enemy grenade attack that nearly killed three of his comrades in a foxhole near Cam Lo, in Vietnam’s Central Highlands. He kicked away one grenade, then cradled another to his belly before throwing it into a nearby river.

His Navy Cross citation lauded Gallagher for displaying “valor in the face of almost certain death,” Newsday reported in a 2017 article about Sen. Chuck Schumer’s letter to then-Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer, urging the Navy to recognize Gallagher posthumously by naming a ship after him.

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But within a month of receiving his citation from Gen. William Westmoreland, in 1967, Gallagher was dead at the age of 23. He was just days from going home when he was killed in another enemy attack.

Schumer (D-N.Y.) said of Gallagher: “He was not a citizen, but Patrick was called to serve,” adding that he could’ve gone back to Ireland to avoid service in Vietnam, but didn’t.

“It’s the story of the Irish,” said Schumer. “It’s the story of immigrants. It’s the story of the greatness of America, and the attachment that immigrants for generations have had for serving here, in this case, Irish immigrants for serving our country with valor and loving America’s freedom and willing to die for it.”

Patrick Nealon, commander of VFW Post 2307 in Lynbrook, is among family and supporters who are in Maine for the ship christening. He said Gallagher “could’ve walked away” from serving in Vietnam. 

“He said, ‘No. this is my new country. This, I will defend’ … and he went.”

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Nealon was among those who sought to get Gallagher recognition. There was a petition drive that several years ago had garnered about 10,000 names. There was also support in Gallagher’s home country. The Dublin Airport commemorated Gallagher’s exploits in 2015 in a series of billboards displayed in its departures area for flights to the United States. And his home village commemorated the 50th anniversary of his death.

Nealon, who is Irish, said of the ship named for Gallagher: “It’s a real proud moment, for all of Ireland and every Irish American in the United States.”



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Woman presumed dead in Readfield house fire; husband hospitalized

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Woman presumed dead in Readfield house fire; husband hospitalized


Firefighters were unable to enter due to heavy fire conditions

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Maine Department of Public Safety

woman presumed dead in readfield house fire; husband hospitalized

SOURCE: Maine Department of Public Safety

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Woman presumed dead in Readfield house fire; husband hospitalized

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Firefighters were unable to enter due to heavy fire conditions

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Updated: 8:48 PM EDT Apr 4, 2026

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A woman is believed to have died in a house fire Friday night in Readfield, officials said.Firefighters responded to a home on Plains Road at about 9:51 p.m. and found the structure heavily involved in fire. Neighbors helped 74-year-old Jerrold Wentworth escape from a second-floor window. He told crews his wife, 75-year-old Carolyn Wentworth, remained inside.Firefighters were unable to enter due to heavy fire conditions.Investigators with the state Fire Marshal’s Office later located a deceased person in the debris early Saturday in the area where Carolyn Wentworth had been sleeping. The body was taken to the state medical examiner’s office for identification and cause of death.Jerrold Wentworth was hospitalized in serious condition. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

A woman is believed to have died in a house fire Friday night in Readfield, officials said.

Firefighters responded to a home on Plains Road at about 9:51 p.m. and found the structure heavily involved in fire. Neighbors helped 74-year-old Jerrold Wentworth escape from a second-floor window. He told crews his wife, 75-year-old Carolyn Wentworth, remained inside.

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Firefighters were unable to enter due to heavy fire conditions.

Investigators with the state Fire Marshal’s Office later located a deceased person in the debris early Saturday in the area where Carolyn Wentworth had been sleeping. The body was taken to the state medical examiner’s office for identification and cause of death.

Jerrold Wentworth was hospitalized in serious condition. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

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Appeals court rules Maine’s gun waiting period likely constitutional

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Appeals court rules Maine’s gun waiting period likely constitutional


The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday ruled that Maine’s 72-hour waiting period for firearm purchases is likely constitutional, overturning a lower court’s decision that had blocked the law from being enforced.

A three-judge panel vacated a preliminary injunction that had prevented Maine from enforcing the law, which requires a 72-hour waiting period for a gun buyer to take possession of a firearm after purchasing it.

The panel found the law does not violate the “plain text” of the Second Amendment.

Circuit Judge Seth Aframe wrote that while the Second Amendment protects the right to “keep and bear” arms, the Maine law regulates the acquisition of firearms, which is a step that happens before a person actually possesses or carries a weapon.

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In the 24-page ruling, the court characterized the law as a “presumptively lawful” condition on the commercial sale of firearms rather than an outright ban. The court concluded the 72-hour delay is a “modest” burden similar to the wait already allowed for federal background checks.

This law and one expanding background check requirements was enacted in 2024, six months after 18 people were killed in the mass shooting in Lewiston. Lawmakers designed the “cooling off” period to reduce suicides and homicides sparked by impulsive firearm purchases.

The lawsuit was brought by a gun buyer, a firearms training business and three firearms dealers. They argued the law interfered with the rights of victims of domestic violence to immediately protect themselves and caused significant business losses for firearms dealers.

The court concluded the plaintiffs were unlikely to succeed on the merits of their claim, which sends the case back to the district court. By vacating the preliminary injunction, the appeals court allows the state to resume enforcing the waiting period while the underlying lawsuit continues.

This is a developing story.

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Maine could soon see a statewide ‘bell-to-bell’ cellphone ban in schools

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Maine could soon see a statewide ‘bell-to-bell’ cellphone ban in schools


AUGUSTA (WGME) — Maine could soon join a growing number of states that ban cellphones during school hours, after lawmakers advanced funding to create and enforce a statewide “bell to bell” policy.

Governor Janet Mills called for the ban during her State of the State address back in January.

“I propose that we enact a statewide ban on cellphone use during the school day, from bell to bell, to reduce distraction and disruption and to keep children’s attention on learning,” Mills said.

Earlier this week, the legislature’s budget committee signed off on $350,000 to support starting a statewide school cellphone ban. The proposal would prohibit students from using their cellphones or smart devices from the first bell until they are dismissed.

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“Appropriations has included $350,000 in its budget to support schools with the ban, presumably to cover the cost of phone lockers, Yondr pouches and other possible ‘enforcement-related’ expenses for this possible rollout,” Maine School Management Association Executive Director Eric Waddell said.

Some Maine schools already have their own restrictions. At Cony High School, Principal Kim Liscomb says the school began implementing stricter cellphone policies five years ago after teachers reported students were distracted.

“We said, ‘All right, nope, they need to be in backpacks, they need to be in bags, they can’t be out at all, and there only certain areas in the school you can use them,” Liscomb said.

Under Cony’s current rules, students are permitted to use their phones before and after school and during lunch. Liscomb says the tighter policy has improved classroom participation.

“The best impact is the engagement of students in the classroom, the highly engaged conversations and discussions, teachers have reported a significant improvement there,” Liscomb said.

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In response to this proposal, some state lawmakers like Representative Jack Ducharme of Madison say they are against an entire state mandate.

“I did not, nor will I support a state mandate for local schools to ban cellphones in the classroom bell-to-bell. We have local school boards made up of local people: parents, grandparents and others that represent the people of that school district. While I understand that cellphones in schools are a problem, I trust local people to address the problem rather than another government mandate,” Ducharme said.

Waddell says that if a statewide school cellphone policy is enacted, the association will work with the Maine Department of Education to provide a sample policy for school boards.

The proposal still must pass the House and Senate before it can go to the governor for approval. If passed, it would take effect at the beginning of next school year.



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